These might be the toughest teams to manage in the fully licensed leagues in Football Manager 22. If you want a real challenge, I think taking on one of these clubs could be a great challenge for any self-proclaimed FM expert!

Derby County – England

You are in for quite the task to turn Derby County into a force again in the EFL. The club is in administration, and they are under a transfer embargo. They have been docked 21 points in the Championship at the start of the season. The club is in shambles and in desperate need of a takeover at Pride Park.

Looking at the squad, it’s also been ravished with injuries. There are 5 major and 3 moderate injuries in the squad to start the pre-season, and with no ability to bring in new players you must look at the reserves to see who you can promote to the first team.

I did my best to cobble together a tactic I think might work to start off with, but it will take some experimentation. It will also take some good performances from some academy players to save Derby this season. Derby might be the toughest out of the toughest teams to manage in this year’s FM.

Radomiak Radom – Poland

As I go through this list, I’m assessing the leagues that are licensed and seeing if I can find the team that could be the toughest to manage. Based on facilities or finances or some other quirks. Radomiak is a club based in Radom, a city near the center of Poland, south of Warsaw. They play out of Narutowicza Stadium which has a capacity of 4066. It is actually under reconstruction and being upgraded to a capacity of 15000.

A strange club vision preferred goal is to sign players based in Portugal. I haven’t really figured out why this is, the club is owned by the city council which is Polish, but have a preference for players playing in Portugal. Maybe you could find some Polish players playing in Portugal? Definitely an interesting quirk about this team.

Other than that, you are expected to avoid relegation, and you are projected to finish 15th. The main probelm is you are overspending on wages by 5000 euros! You need to offload players, and or try to re-structure the transfer budget. Either way, that is a difficult task to make a competitive squad to start your first season in the Ekstraklasa.

Tobermore United – Northern Ireland

Off to Northern Ireland, we are focusing on Tobermore United in the Lough41 Premier Intermediate League on our list of toughest teams to manage in FM22. To start, we have a small squad here on non-contracts. They are a Semi-Professional club based in Tobermore, which is a small town north-west of Belfast out in the countryside. They play in the 1500-seator Fortwilliam Park Stadium.

The tricky part is the club’s finances and infrastructure. There is no transfer budget to speak of, and a tiny wage budget. You also cannot really develop youth prospects as you will have basic youth and training facilities, so you’ll want to explore the free transfer market. Another issue with this is there is current no recruiting staff.

The financial projection of the club is quite bad, so there’s that to contend with as well. A lot of work will need to be done to get Tobermore structured well enough to move up the leagues, and eventually into Europe where most of the money will come for Northern Irish sides. Maybe a good long term save here.

Helmond Sport – Netherlands

Off to the Netherlands we go! Helmond Sport is a club based in the city of Helmond, just next door to the east of Eindhoven. They play in the 4200-seater SolarUnieStadium in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie, the second-tier of Dutch Football, but will be moving into a new stadium in 2024!.

Surprisingly, the Board expects you to finish bottom in the current season.

So at least you aren’t met immediately with mammoth expectations. A problem that needs solving right away is the club is currently overspending on wages. After that’s sorted you’ll want to look at improving the staff, as they have average coaching and medical teams. They scouting I would say is below average.

Also the facilities are not very good, poor youth facilities, limited youth recruitment and basic academy coaching will make it nearly impossible to bring in good youth prospects, so you’ll have to explore the transfer market. The goal with this club would be to increase their income by selling players for profit, moving up the league and trying to get into Europe so you can improve the facilities over time. Definitely a good candidate for a one-club save.

Erzgebirge Aue – Germany

The next club in our list of toughest teams to manage in FM22 is Erzebirge Aue. The first thing I struggle with as an English-speaker is how to pronounce their club’s name. Someone call for help. Erzgebirge are a club based in Aue-Bad Schlema, near the border of Czechia in Eastern Germany. They play in the 16080-seater Erzgebirgsstadion, which is a beautiful stadium in the hillside. A local derby right away that you will experience is the Sachsen Derby against Dynamo Dresden in the 2. Bundesliga. The German second division is one of the best divisions to experience in World Football, a loyal fanbase with a great footballing culture.

Looking at the club vision, despite needing to avoid relegation, the board want you to play possession football. Also, they want you to sign players from domestic rivals, which is always a tough ask. Presumably, to try to weaken the other sides in the division and advance further up the table and get promoted to 1. Bundesliga.

The staff is the biggest weakness in the club at the moment. You have poor coaches, no scouting at all, and below average medical staff. Coupled with average facilities, and basic youth recruiting. Staff up and work the transfer market!

Cowdenbeath – Scotland

The Blue Brazil. Cowdenbeath are a club in the cinch League 2 in Scotland, based out of Central Park Stadium which has a 4309 capacity and a racing car track around the pitch! Why “The Blue Brazil”? Its been suggested that it arose because of the club’s financial plight in the early 1980’s and humorously compared to that of Brazil’s national debt. However, popular consensus seems to be that it’s just down to a heavy dose of football irony.

The club vision wants you to sign players under 23 years old for the first team, and maximum one year contracts for players over 33. You’ll also need to be competitive and reach the third round of the cup, but you have no transfer budget whatsoever, and very little room for wages.

Longer term, Cowdenbeath have poor financial projections, basic training and youth recruiting facilities. Their stadium is in very poor condition. Staff-wise, there is no recuiting team, and under-staffed coaching and medical teams. You’ve got your work cut-out for you!

Herlev – Denmark

Herlev IF are next in our list of toughest teams to manage in FM22. They are a small amateur club, based in the suburb of Herlev in northwestern Copenhagen in Denmark and they play out of the 3500 capacity Herlev Stadion. The club, from what I can tell, has been amateur for their entire existence and is nearly 100 years old, founded in 1923. Could be a nice rags to riches story.

This season they are projected to finish bottom of the league and the board expects relegation. Can you save them? With zero transfer budget and no wages, as they are entirely amateur, so youth and free agents are key here.

They have a coaching staff but there is no medical team. Also, they have below average scouting, poor youth facilities, basic training and coaching facilities, and poor financial projections. This definitely lends itself to a long-term, bottom-to-top journey type of save. Can you bring Herlev from obscurity all the way up the Danish pyramid to the Champions League?

Cefn Druids – Wales

Next in our toughest teams to manage in football manager list is Cefn Druids from Wales. The lovely little club is one of the oldest and most successful in Wales. However, they have hit some rough times. They play out of ‘The Rock’, which is a 3000 capacity stadium nestled in the hillside surrounded by a rocky cliff-face. Based in Rhosymedre, just south and a little east of Wrexham in Wales.

In the club vision, the board want you to develop the youth, but facilities are basic. They have a small stadium, and below average training facilities. Financially, they have a small transfer budget, a small wage budget, and longer term, a poor financial projection.

This season, they are projected to finish near the bottom, but the board expects you to finish mid-table and reach the quarter final of the Cup. That could be a tricky task. In the backroom, they have no scouting staff, poor medical staff, and a below average coaching staff. Also looking at their first team, there’s a few youth candidates but to meet the goals of the current season you may need to recruit.

Quevilly-Rouen – France

Quevilly Rouen are a Ligue 2 club based in Le Petit-Quevilly, France. North-west of Paris on the way to Le Havre. Founded in 1902, they have largely had regional success in their history, and their notable national successes came as Coupe de France finalists in 1927 and 2012. Currently the club is groundsharing with SC Caen while their stadium is under renovation. They are enhancing the facilities at the ground to host sport year round. But by the beginning of the first season you should be back in their home ground.

For club vision, they want you to sign player under the age of 23 for the first team and fight bravely against relegation this season. Also, you’ll need to reach the ninth round of the Coupe de France. The club however, is overspending on wages by about 1000 euros and there is no transfer budget at all to start off. Projections look good though year over year for the financial standing of the club.

The facilities will need eventually upgrading, something you can do in the years to come. Currently, there is below average youth facilities, and basic youth recruitment. In the backroom, you will have poor coaching, scouting and medical teams. Oof!

This club looks to have some potential though, you’re not far off the top flight and with a bit of cleanup and a couple seasons under your belt you could turn them into a force in France.

Atletico Ottawa – Canada

Lastly in our list of the toughest teams to manage in FM22, Atletico Ottawa are pretty much a brand-new club. Founded by the owners of Atletico Madrid in 2020, and based in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada, between Montreal and Toronto. Also, the club plays out of the 24000 seater TD Place Stadium on Bank Street near the Rideau Canal in downtown Ottawa. The problem Atletico Ottawa has is that they have not been able to get off the foot of the Canadian Premier League ever since they started.

For the club vision, the board want you to be competitive in all competitions, sign players to sell for profit, with minimum 2 year contracts for first team. However, they are currently overspending on wages, and they have no sponsor income to speak of. The CPL is not a very lucrative league at the moment, so the name of the game is to bring in local youth players and sell them for profit. You’ll occasionally find some North & South American journeymen type players you can add to your squad as well to supplement the youth.

Right now though, there is nothing in the way of youth candidates, and you have no scouting team to find those candidates. There is a poor medical team, and average coaching staff in place, so I would get in there are upgrade the staff to start off. Then I’d start hunting for players to improve the first team. There isn’t any development squads available to you so you may as well treat all incoming players as first team players. So start with that mindset.

So that’s the list! In closing, I hope you enjoyed the breakdowns and got some inspiration for some new saves you can try in this year’s Football Manager. Furthermore, the thing I really enjoy about the game is the ability to kind of travel the World to experience football, you can get really immersed in a club and learn all about their history and culture. Also, you don’t want the game to be that easy do you? 😉

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• FM24 Release Date Announced!

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